Leida Khaled

Leila Khaled was born on April 9, 1944, in Haifa during the British Mandate of Palestine. In 1948, following the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli war and the subsequent establishment of Israel, her family relocated to Tyre, Lebanon, where she grew up as a refugee. At the age of 15, she joined the Arab Nationalist Movement. She later attended the American University of Beirut and worked as an English teacher in Kuwait. In 1967, Khaled joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a Marxist-Leninist, (See https://www.conservapedia.com/Marxism%E2%80%93Leninism,) political and militant organization. She gained widespread international attention for her direct involvement in two commercial airliner hijackings: TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and an attempted hijacking of El Al Flight 219 in 1970. Following her capture during the second operation, she was detained in the United Kingdom and subsequently released in a prisoner exchange. In her later life, Khaled transitioned into political and social advocacy, serving as a member of the Palestinian National Council and working with the General Union of Palestinian Women.